Al Jazeera Series about the Voluntourism industry

A must watch for every past and future volunteer

The focus of the series lies on the orphanage tourism and voluntourism industry which is connected to int. volunteer companies and the global north. It will help every futur volunteer to understand the challanges behind the voluntourism industry and volunteering in orphanages. Al Jazeera spend a lot of time and money in researching the subject and developed an outstanding series of documentaries. An absolutely must watch for every futur and past volunteer.

Voluntourism industry insights and a many-sided view on a complex issue

These videos describe extremely well the impact of voluntourism on Cambodia, institutional care and the big business behind it. Five of the videos are part of one research trip of Al Jazeera in Cambodia in 2012. All videos together give you a many-sided view on voluntourism and it`s impact as well as a good idea of how voluntourism can be like.

Al Jazeera did not only go undercover into orphanages to reveal that voluntourism companies have no quality standards and child protection structure in place but also talked in a talk show to the company about the scandal later. In addition you will find interviews with government officials, children that grew up in orphanages, local NGO staff, orphanage owners, former volunteers and int. child right experts. All together this series adds up very well and gives the audience a very good understanding of the challenges behind the voluntourism industry.

The challenges and positive impact shown are not a Cambodian based phenomenon but are similar in other countries worldwide (Nepal, Uganda, Thailand etc.).